When it comes to social media advertising policies and best-practices, the cliché “the only constant is change” could not be more accurate. For good reason, and often for seemingly no reason at all, established platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter update the fine details that marketers need to know to do their job effectively. This can take shape in many different ways, but image sizing and video tips are a few that advertisers can keep up with if they take the time to update their spec sheets.
I’ll lay out the information marketers need to know to follow advertising platform guidelines in 2022. Of course, all information below is subject to change.
Facebook Specs
Still the king of the social media castle, Facebook (okay, Meta) brought in more than $110 billion in ad revenue in 2021. For context, that number would have them ranked about 60th in GDP if the company were a country. Here are the specs:
Ad Size (Image): 1080 x 1080 (square)
Ad Size (Story Image): 1080 x 1920 *Note – you should be including this side with every ad campaign. Facebook will automatically place your ad into their stories feed, so if it’s improperly sized it won’t like right to your audience
Ad Length (Video): 1:1 ration of 4:5 for mobile. Captions are recommended. Generally speaking, shorter is better, and videos that are more visual than audio-focused will better results.
Best Practice Recommendation: Though the “20% text” rule has been gone from the platform for some time, it’s been accepted that algorithms still don’t like promoting images with too much verbiage. Keep that for the description above your image, and focus on the visuals with the graphic component.
TikTok Specs
If your brand is trying to get in front of younger audiences without wasting money on users who are unlikely to become future customers, there’s simply no better option out there today than TikTok. The short-form video platform has taken over Gen Z, and it’s self-serve ad platform gives marketers the ability to reach them with ease. Keep
Aspect Ration (Video): Ideally, 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9. Vertical videos with a 9:16 ratio perform best due to their fit for mobile devices.
Resolution (Video): 540 x 960 pixels or 640 x 640 pixels. Videos with a resolution of 720 pixels perform best.
File Types (Video): Stick to: mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, or .avi.
Length (Video): You can run ads ranging from 5 seconds to 60 seconds, but TikTok itself recommends staying in the 21-34 range.
Best Practice Recommendation: Do what you can to make your ad look like user-content. You don’t want your video to scream “ADVERTISEMENT!” even though you should try to make sure your audience does at least recognize what you’re selling.
(Source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-advertising/)
LinkedIn Specs
It’s never going to be the sexiest social media app, but for advertisers LinkedIn is looking better by the minute. In 2021, the business-first platform accounted for nearly a third of all B2B digital advertising spend in the U.S. Given it’s unique data set that allows marketers to target the decision-makers, there’s really no limit to the growth potential of LinkedIn. Simply put, if you’re in the B2B game, you should be investing heavily in LinkedIn targeted ads. Once you decide to act, here are the specs you’ll need to know to be successful:
Company Logo for Ads: 100 x 100
Spotlight Ads Logo: 100 x 100
Sponsored content carousel image: aspect ration 1:1 is sufficient, but 1080 x 1080 is optimal.
Image Size for Blog Post Links: 1200 x 627 is recommended.
Vertical Ads: 628 x 1200 for 1:1.91 aspect ration, for 2:3 ration use 600 x 900.
Best Practice Recommendations: This goes for all advertising, but creating compelling content is a critical factor in driving the results you want on LinkedIn. One strategy that has been proven to be effective is the “white paper.” For those who are unfamiliar with the terminology, this refers to a downloadable document by an authority on the subject. As with any business, the best way to get people’s attention is to make yourself useful.
YouTube Specs
The world’s leader in video content continues to put up huge numbers year after year. In 2021, more than 1 billion hours of content was viewed…each day. Every minute, more than 500 hours of new content is uploaded from professionals and amateurs alike. What does all that mean? There’s a lot of opportunity for effective advertising. Chances are, the vast majority of your customers are spending time on the site. With a few different formats to choose from, YouTube puts the power in advertisers’ hands. Specs below:
YouTube Display Ad (appear at top right of video, above suggested videos): 300 x 250 for large view, 300 x 60 for small view
Video Ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, and in-stream): 640 x 360 (for 360p resolution), 1280×720 (720p), 1920×1080 (1080p)
Vertical Video Ads: 16:9 aspect ration (landscape)
Ad Banner (stretches across the top of a YouTube Page): 16:9 aspect ration, recommended banner size is 2560 x 1440
Best Practice Recommendations: If you’re like most YouTube users, you tend to skip the advertising content as soon as the platform allows. Of course, that makes non-skippable ads a preferable option, but it’s going to be more expensive to execute your campaign this way. Mid-roll and pre-roll are still valuable tools to utilize. Just be sure you’re getting your message out quickly – as in the first five seconds of your video.
One final thing worth mentioning is that you don’t technically have to create video content to advertise on YouTube. The banner and display ad options help you get your name out there on the platform without the time and money associated with video creation. If you think your audience is on YouTube, a static image is better than not having a presence at all.
Wrapping Up
File these specs away to use the next time you set up a social media ad campaign. They won’t guarantee success, but they will help you gain favor within the algorithms – something that has a huge impact on your overall campaign performance. If you don’t have the tools or the knowledge to create your ads in accordance to these specs, get in touch with us today and we’ll help make sure your creative is making the right impression with social media platforms and the audiences that you’re trying to reach.
